


Constants and Variables

by InsomniacPiggy



Category: BioShock Infinite
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Gen, I wrote this to make myself feel better about the ending, It sort of worked?, Tags will be updated, Time Travel Fix-It, happy-ish ending, i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-20 15:52:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3656130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsomniacPiggy/pseuds/InsomniacPiggy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some BioShock drabbles of mine. Tags will be updated with new stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dreams

It's very cold. That's the one thing he can be sure about, looking up at the three faces of his daughter. As they drown him, as they save him, as they stop him.

He doesn't struggle. He knows he doesn't deserve it, and he knows he doesn't want it. These days, it feels like he knows far too many things.

Booker DeWitt is a practical man. That is for certain. It's one of the constants about him, after all, whether he's a DeWitt or Comstock. He rarely wastes time dreaming about things could be, and when he does, it's usually accompanied by the familiar sight of the bottom of yet another empty bottle.

But now, he's dying, so why not? Why not think about what he would have done- what they would have done if he'd set those coordinates to Paris, not New York, all that time ago in their airship.

He thinks that Elizabeth would have loved the summer air, the scenery, the smells of brand new exciting world. A world full of laughter, smiles and forgiveness, not this one of blood and the stale taste of regret. He's sure that Elizabeth would've made sure he didn't gamble or drink, and set him on a better path. He can imagine their bickering over the morning's tea and wonders what kind of job he'd leave for afterwards. A respectable one, maybe. One to help others. Elizabeth would be disappointed otherwise.

He's certain that she would spend her days painting and dancing and singing and reading every book she could get her hands on. That she would beg him for that puppy she once spoke about, and how he would resist half-heartedly until she pleaded with those large eyes of hers. How he would never regret getting such a foolish creature, because it made her smile with its antics. And, well. He might laugh on occasion, too.

And as his lungs burn with the cold water in them, he thinks that they might have been _happy_.

His eyes sting with tears, and while once he might have blamed it on the water, he now accepts it, and quietly understands why people love to dream on occasion.

He closes his eyes, and thinks wistfully of this better life as he sinks to the bottom.


	2. Second Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In one universe, Booker DeWitt dies in the river.
> 
> In another, he wakes up in Columbia

In one universe, Booker DeWitt dies in the river.

In another, he wakes up in Columbia.

* * *

 

The first thing he feels is warm sunshine on his face.

And that can't be right. He's dead, isn't he?

But- no, he's not, because he hears the call of birds and rustle of wind through leaves, and feels a bubble of hope form in his chest.

He opens his eyes and sees the three statues of the Garden of New Eden peering down at him. He sees the murky puddle he woke up in after his first 'baptism'. And as he staggers out of the garden and into the streets, he scarcely believes his eyes when he sees Columbia. Whole, untouched, unburnt Columbia.

Then, he knows with every fiber of his being, is that this is his second chance. A second chance. For _him_ , Booker DeWitt.

Not Zachary Comstock.

Never Zachary Comstock.

And, really. After every other unbelievable thing that's happened to him, is it that hard to believe?

His feet are moving before he realizes it. He tears down the streets like a madman, heading towards Monument Tower. He's too caught up in his head with thoughts of Elizabeth to register the smirking Lutece twins as he rushes past, Robert no longer wearing the chalkboard. 

And when he falls onto her banister, he doesn't think of debts to be paid or how uncomfortable the wooden railings are. And when Elizabeth sees him gasping for breath, she doesn't hit him with a book or need to wonder who he is. Instead, when their eyes meet, an unspoken promise passes between them. Of things being different this time. _Better_ this time.

And when Booker opens his mouth to speak, this time there is no fear or apprehension in Elizabeth. As she looks at her first and last hope, there is only happiness and relief. His rough voice washes over her, and she brings her hand to wipe away the errant tears away from her eyes.

"Fancy a trip to Paris?"


End file.
